Now this is really shocking: Con Ed is not planning to seek a rate hike.

A rate plan that boosted prices by about 2.5 percent April 1 will stay in place beyond its March 31, 2013, expiration date.

That news — combined with lower costs for the companies that generate the electricity Con Ed resells to customers — means New Yorkers might actually see their electric bills drop in the coming months.

It takes 11 months for the state to decide on a request from Con Ed to hike its charges.

Around May 1, Con Ed could have asked the state for an increase that would take effect April 1, 2013.

But the utility has not made such a filing.

If Con Ed doesn’t file for a new increase, its existing rates stay in place.

How far beyond next March 31 the current rates will stay in effect is anyone’s guess. Con Ed says it still could file for a new increase any time.

But there are signs that Con Ed not only doesn’t need more money from its customers now, but might not get any more if it asked.

In a little-noticed filing with the Public Service Commission last August, Con Ed said it was making enough from its customers to get by from April 2013 to April 2014 by extending its existing rates “with relatively minor modifications.”